Cold Climate Gardening

65 responses so far ↓

• 1 Carol // Jul 3, 2007 at 9:17 pm

  I think you’ve summed it up nicely. I would only recommend Endless Summer to someone who wanted a shrub that died back each year and then reached only a foot to eighteen inches during the summer. And I planted mine pretty far apart thinking about them being three foot round balls, so to make the area where they are planted look right, I should actually transplant them to be closer together, or get two more to fill in the gaps!

• 2 Robin (Bumblebee) // Jul 4, 2007 at 6:35 am

  Hummm. Earlier this summer I planted some Forever and Ever hydrangeas with a similar claim. Like yours, they are about 18″ tall. They are covered with blooms. (There’s a post in the archives on my blog somewhere.) This flower also has its own website: http://www.foreverhydrangea.com/.

  This variety claims to be for “northern gardens,” which would suggest some cold hardiness. It’s supposed to grow about 3′ tall and wide. But based on your comments, though, I’ll be keeping an eye on it to see how it fares through the winter. They sound very similar, except perhaps for the “northern gardens” claim.

  –Robin (Bumblebee)

• 3 Ted B // Jul 4, 2007 at 8:42 am

  I’m outside of the Twin Cities, where Endless Summer was developed and I’ve been growing it for several years, both at home and for clients. Overall I’d say it was over promoted but I do think it’s worth growing. It seems to do best with plenty of light, plenty of moisture and lots of fertility. I do expect it to die back every spring, and can be late to break dormancy. My standard advise is to start with as large a plant as possible - they get better with age.

  My shrubs are maybe three years old, a little over 2 feet tall and blooming lightly. They are in a partly shaded, non irrigated sight. A clients are in sun, irrigated and blooming well.

  Last year I grew a couple H. macrophylla ‘Lady in Red’ in containers. They were a bit floppy by midsummer so I planted them in the garden, assuming they wouldn’t bloom but they have nice foliage and stems. They were killed to the ground but are up and blooming with nice lace cap flowers, at least as well as the Endless Summer.

• 4 Kathy Purdy // Jul 5, 2007 at 5:36 pm

  Ted, I noticed on their website they tell you to stop fertilizing at a certain point so they can toughen up for winter. I am glad to improve my soil at planting time with as much organic matter as I can get my hands on, and even when I don’t mulch, I know I should. But I don’t, and won’t, go around fertilizing anything all season long, and if that’s what it takes to get the best out of this shrub, well it’s going to be less than a stellar performer for me.

  Robin, I have some of those Forever and Evers, too. They came through the winter fine, but also got cut down by frost. My favorite from last year, the double pink, is still less than 6 inches tall! I will be astonished if it manages to bloom this year.

• 5 bogie // Jul 6, 2007 at 11:22 am

  I seem to be the lucky one. I’ve had 2 ES’s and they have bloomed every year for me (this is year 3). One is in a spot protected from the winter wind (out away from the house), the other is about 7 feet from the house but gets the full wind.

  the one by the house dies completely back every year. The more protected ES keeps part of it’s previous year’s growth. The protected ES has been blooming up a storm for a little over a week. The other is putting out buds and should bloom soon (but not with as many blooms as the other one).

  I am surprised that frost got yours this spring; mine hadn’t even thought about coming out of dormancy until end of May/beginning of June.

  As you can tell, I have been thrilled with ES.

• 6 Kathy Purdy // Jul 6, 2007 at 11:47 am

  Bogie, we get frost all through May and often in the first week of June. Usually my hydrangeas don’t have more than an inch of growth when it gets frozen off, but they are back to square one and it does stall them.

  Depending on where you are in New Hampshire, you could be in a warmer climate than I am. Thanks for stopping by.

• 7 Bev // Jul 6, 2007 at 6:58 pm

  OMG… you must read my post from June “I’m A Proud Mama.” I’ve tried and tried and tried to grow Endless Summer in Colorado. Always died. Finally have a bloom after three… get that… THREE years. And it’s coming along nicely. Think I’ll actually get a bloom before it freezes, so will post it when I do. I really sympthasize.

• 8 Ted B // Jul 6, 2007 at 8:02 pm

  Kathy,

  I’m sure thats correct advise re fertilizing. It just goes to my own myopia. When I say ‘lots of fertilty’ I mean a soil enriched with lots of organic matter. I just forget that people use chemical fertilizers in the garden ( I save them for my containers). I would think compost would be fine to apply any time - it’s slow acting.

• 9 bogie // Jul 7, 2007 at 4:54 am

  I get frosts right until the end of May - although you are a week behind us for frost-free date.

  As far as fertilizer, the only thig I do is add HolyTone 3-4 times during the summer to keep them blue.

• 10 Craig Levy // Jul 8, 2007 at 10:47 am

  A big thumbs down for ‘Endless Summer’, a plant overly hyped and deceptive at best. A local nursery received a shipment of plants a year before their release to the general public. All reports on performance and bloom have been negative. What a turkey. “Hmm, wasn’t Michael Dirr involved in the development of this variety?” I say, knowing he was.

  Professional growers use applications of Aluminum Sulfate throughout the growing cycle to ensure blue flowers. The quality of the blue is also variety dependent: light pink = light blue, medium and dark pink = dark blue, red (really a dark rosy pink) = purple.

• 11 Chris // Jul 8, 2007 at 9:00 pm

  I love Endless Summer, I have around 10 of them I think. I think you all are being a little hard on it.

  The whole point with Endless Summer is that, unlike every other big mophead hydrangea, it blooms on both old and new wood, which means you can get blooms every year, even if it takes until August.

  I’m in zone 5, so not as cold as some of you in z4, but even here other mophead varieties do not bloom every year because their top growth is so often killed.

  So no, the plant isn’t hardy like say a sedum, but it is hardier than it’s cousins and will bloom every year for most people.

  I give mine ample winter protection to make sure I get both bloom periods. You don’t need the entire stem to live through the winter, just a few sets of buds, and you can get the early bloom.

  Also… the flowers on this plant never fully fade… they just dull to a dull red or a dull blue and stay like that, still providing color, for months. The flower heads are also larger than other mopheads I have.

  As for changing the colors… it is the aluminum sulfate, but the other thing Craig said is wrong. Purple is just a blend of red & blue, if you have one that is purple you just have middling soil. I’ve had a single plant produce a blue, purple, and pink bloom all in the same season by playing with soil. I also get very vibrant blooms.

  If I lived in zone 6, or 7, or 8, I probably wouldn’t care as much about this plant, but in zone 5 I cannot get reliable blooms out of any other big bright mophead hydrangea and that puts this plant as one of my top 5 favorites in my garden.

• 12 ellipsisknits // Jul 9, 2007 at 9:25 am

  My mother grows one and it is doing fine in z5 Ohio. It does tend to die back in the winter, but comes back and is in full bloom right now. We do have very rich woodland soil (and woodland shade!) in our garden, and I believe she adds acid to make it more blue, but I like the purple/pink shades as well.

  One thing I’ve heard re: less acidic near the house, is that concrete makes things alkaline, so if it’s near a patio, that may not be helping.

  It does not get very large - I would say a compact 2-3 foot sphere, and we have not had much re-bloom. However, the blooms last for a very long time, so we are trying to cut them earlier this year to see if that will encourage a second flush.

  Also, it is definetly doing better with a few years under it’s belt to establish.

  I have to admit, I’m not a real big hydrangea fan to begin with so my opinion may be biased, but it seems a perfectly serviceable plant if you’re into that sort of thing.

  -C

• 13 Kathy Purdy // Jul 9, 2007 at 6:35 pm

  Well, all, I’ve got a couple of thoughts.
  1.) It’s happened to other plants, that when it is over-propagated the stock declines and doesn’t have the same vigor as when first introduced.
  2)I never had experience with mopheads before, and I was comparing ‘Endless Summer’ with the paniculata and arborescens species I am familiar with. A mophead is just not going to get as big. I am looking at the mopheads (ES and some Forever and Evers) that I planted toward the back of my borders and thinking I should move them towards the front. They are more like woody perennials than permanent shrubs (in the sense that they would provide structure in the winter).
  3) I think the shrub was over-hyped. As both Chris and ellipsisknits stated, it’s a good shrub, for a mophead hydrangea. But reading the advertising copy, you’d think it was the shrub to end all shrubs. No. It will bloom in my climate but it needs more time and money from me than it is going to get to be spectacular.

  Anyone got a suggestion on the best time to move it more towards the front of the bed? Spring or autumn?

• 14 Ted B // Jul 10, 2007 at 7:38 am

  Definitely move in spring. They actually have a hard time entering dormancy due to their continual growth habit (which creates the potential for rebloom). Moving in fall is asking for them to die.

  I believe the original Endless Summer was a florist hydrangea that someone planted in their garden. Eventually it made its way to Baileys Nursery where they propagated it and created a marketing jugernaut.

  Micheal Dirr was involved in the creation of Blushing Bride which is a cross between the original Endless Summer and an older cultivar, Veitchii. It is supposed to be dwarfer, paler, quicker to rebloom and slightly less hardy.

  It is being marketed as part of the Endless Summer series and in the same blue pots but it’s not really the same. Confusing marketing I think. This is the first year it’s been widely available.

• 15 Chan S. // Jul 10, 2007 at 11:05 pm

  Endless Summer has worked out fine for me (I believe this summer will be its third season in my garden). I usually have to cut it back severely after winters, but it’s bloomed reliably on new wood every year (…except no flower heads yet this year, hmm). I try to keep it watered when I notice it wilting, but don’t go out of my way to fertilize it or to alter the pH (left to its own devices in Wisconsin clay soil, it blooms in a lavender-tinged pink, which is quite pleasant). In my garden, it sits in the side yard among several ‘pee gee’ varieties and next to an ‘Annabelle’, and it’s a good front-of-border, compact accent plant in that company.

• 16 krisl // Jul 17, 2007 at 10:50 pm

  This will be my endless summer’s 4th year in the ground. The first 2 years I had around 40 blooms the entire season. My endless summer is now about 4×4′, and will not bloom. Last year I pruned it back about 1/3, this year have been pumping full of phosphate. Hopefully, I will see at one bloom this year! Any other ideas?

• 17 Mary // Jul 22, 2007 at 1:12 pm

  I have 5 Endless Summer hydrangeas in a garden by the patio next to my house. The 1st summer was good for all of the plants. This summer - the 4th for some - I have not one bloom. I cut them back in the spring, and have fertilized with Mir-Acid every few weeks since early June. The bed gets some sun and some shade, but no water, so I irrigate faithfully. I add Compost Manure when I dig the gardens in the spring. What am I doing wrong? I am in Ohio zone 5.

• 18 Kathy Purdy // Jul 24, 2007 at 5:30 pm

  I am not an expert on hydrangeas, so I can’t offer any advice to krisl and Mary. There are no blooms on any of my hydrangeas at this time. This is only the second year for most of them. I am taking a wait-and-see, live-and-learn approach with them. In general, when a plant isn’t doing as I expected and is receiving the same care as in other years, I try to see what has changed. Usually it’s the weather that’s different, but on rare occasions there’s been a tree that had finally grown enough to cast shade, or work around the house, etc. That’s about the only advice I can give.

• 19 eliz // Jul 30, 2007 at 2:17 pm

  I have a Forever Pink macrophylla that does great but I do give it winter protection (bags of dead leaves piled around). It is a clear, deep pink–much better than Endless Summer. I hate that muddy look. I’ve also got an Annabelle that I like pretty well, an Autumn Glow (or similar name) and a climber. I love all of them.

  The Forever Pink hydrangea is among the top ten commented-on plants during Garden Walk.

  However, I am a zone 5 and in a sheltered urban area. The leaves though–might work?

• 20 Kathy Purdy // Jul 31, 2007 at 3:39 pm

  eliz–is that the same as Forever and Ever hydrangea that Robin mentions up above? I got three colors in that “series” to trial last year. They are supposed to be hardy to Zone 4. The red died, almost certainly my fault due to bad location. The single pink didn’t do much last year, and this year is as big as the ‘Endless Summer,’ and like it, still bloomless. The double pink got clobbered by the last frosts. It has yet to top 6 inches. I will probably have to make a separate post about it; I’ve never seen anything like it. It appears to be making a lot of healthy leaves, but no stems.

• 21 eliz // Aug 2, 2007 at 10:17 am

  I don’t think so. I think the word “forever” refers to the fact that it will stay a good, strong pink. Again, the best rec I have is to protect yours with a tall mound of something all around it.

  But you should take care listening to me cause I’m in a warmer zone. (plus my lack of horticultural expertise)

• 22 Kathy Purdy // Aug 2, 2007 at 1:03 pm

  Well, I know the ones I have are the ones that Robin referred to in her comment. Same marketing tags as the website she links to. Can’t speak for yours . . .

• 23 Ev // Aug 15, 2007 at 9:39 am

  I live in southeastern Michigan, north of Detroit and love hydrangeas. I must say that my experience with both Endless Summer and Forever & Ever hydrangea shrubs has been very disappointing. The comments of others echo my own experience. After wondering for years why the hydrangeas I purchased from a local nursery only bloomed occasionally, I learned from a local master gardener, that they were the type that bloom on last year’s wood, hence, our late May freezes usually knocked out the buds. So I pulled them up and replaced them with the shrubs being touted in Garden magazines as the answer to this problem: Endless Summer and Forever & Ever shrubs which bloom on both new and old wood. As an experiement, I planted 3 in the front yard where they get 4-5 hours sun and some in the back where they get at least 6 hours of afternoon sun. (My yard is ringed with tall oak and maple trees). The shrubs that get the most sun need frequent and heavy watering to keep from wilting. They bloomed last summer with only 1 -2 blossoms on a shrub. The ones in front did not bloom at all. This is the third summer and they are about 3 feet tall, leafy and bushy, but few to no flowers. One shrub in front has two small, pinky-blue flowers, the others have no flowers. The shrub that has two blossoms are on new wood. One shrub in back had lots of buds on last year’s wood, but we had a hard freeze in late May this year, after the forsythia,daffodils and trillium were already up and blooming, so we lost many early-flowering shrubs and trees. This was a true test of the claim that these shrubs would send up new wood and produce flowers, but they have not done so. I may give them one more summer to see what happens, then out they go and I am done with that experiement. I will say that my sister-in-law lives in Fort Wayne, Ind., had new landscaping done and they planted a dozen Endless Summer shrubs two summers ago, most of them died the first winter, and the few that are left, are weak-looking, not as healthy as mine, and have produced only 1 or 2 flowers between them. She was very disappointed.

  I have two oakleaf hydrangeas in the same locations that bloom beautifully every summer, and dozens of Annabelle shrubs everywhere, some in almost complete shade and others in sunny areas that bloom profusely. I also have two PeeGees that bloom heavily and reliably, and last summer, I planted a “Limelight” which is in the Peegee family and in this second summer, it is loaded with flowers although the flowers are not nearly as lime-colored as the photos suggested. I guess I just have to give up on successfully growing the mophead varieties in my yard, at least.

• 24 Kathy Purdy // Aug 15, 2007 at 8:23 pm

  Ev, thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience. I plan to write more about hydrangeas before the snow flies.

• 25 Ev // Aug 16, 2007 at 7:26 am

  I just returned from a 10-day trip to England and enjoyed the huge mom-head hydrangeas in blue, red, pink and white. My husband has been through Ireland on golfing trips and knowing my love of hydrangeas, brought pictures of entire hedges of mophead hydrangeas in every color. Obviously, the milder and wetter winters in those places are ideal for the mophead hydrangea, while our more severe extreme midwestern climate of hot dry summers and deep freezes is not. According to the master gardener who wrote an extensive review on hydrangeas for our S.E. Michigan area, covering the hydrangeas or even piling mulch around them will not prevent the buds from freezing is not reliable for protecting them. Its worth a try, I guess, if you’re determined to keep them! I would guess that perhaps planting them in a protected area and mulching them heavily in the fall might work for years when the temps do not stay below freezing for long periods. Anyway, I think I’ve about satisfied my desire to grow mopheads and will move on to something more reliable for this climate, such as the many lovely and varied forms of Viburnum!

• 26 Ev // Aug 18, 2007 at 7:28 am

  Just a note about “Endless Summer” The 8/17/07 (Saturday) edition of the Detroit News insert “Homestyle” has a short article by master gardener, Nancy Szerlag (p 4H). She says the plant is not reliably hardy for Zone 5…. You can read her articles at http://www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com if you want the entire article. She recommends planting Hydrangea paniculata “Pinky Winky” as hardy to Zone 4…..

• 27 Jean // Aug 19, 2007 at 12:39 pm

  I’ve had endless summer in my front garden for 3 years. They get morning sun, and afternoon shade. The first two years, the blooms where plentiful. This year, I’ve only gotten 2-3 blooms between 5 plants. The plants are full and lush, 3-4 ft tall and wide. The only thing different this year, was the late frost in the milwaukee area, plus I tried to turn them blue. I’d love a quick solution to get my gorgeous blooms back. I’m thinking of cutting them back a smidge to help generate new growth, which I’m hoping would also bring with it some blooms. The other thought would be fertilizer. Thoughts anyone?

• 28 Ev // Aug 19, 2007 at 4:43 pm

  The solution to your problem about the Endless Summer hydrangeas blooming is to pray for a mild spring with no late frosts! You don’t say where you live, but I have consulted three or four master gardeners in our Zone 5 area of Michigan and they all agree, after several years of growing the Endless Summer hydrangeas as well as other cultivars in the same family, that they are not nearly as hardy as they have been reported to be, that the buds are killed by late freezes, and the new wood tends to be weak and unreliable in blooming. Fertilizer makes no difference in promoting blooming. My ES shrubs are 3 yrs old and on 7 shrubs, I have 2 small flower heads this summer, we had a heavy below 32 deg. freeze in late spring — they are in a heavily watered, highly organic soil and i have fertilized them as recommended by gardening experts. Location might make a difference if you can locate them where they do not get hit as heavily by freezing wind. If you are determined to keep trying, you can try heavily mulching them with leaves and hope for the best! Sorry to be so discouraging, but I cannot recommend them at all! My gardening friends in this area all have the same sad story — few to no blooms, weak stems…. just not a good overall variety for this zone.

• 29 eliz // Aug 19, 2007 at 4:54 pm

  Hi hydrangea lovers/sufferers,

  I will be testing a product called Shrub Coat this winter. I’ll let you know how it does. Also, I am also trying the Limelight cultivar (just bought it). I have heard very good things. It’s a gorgeous plant, lime-colored or not.

  And again, I do urge the method of piling BAGS of leaves around the plants to protect them from biting winds. This is tried and true for many gardeners. Mulch will do nothing to protect buds on old wood.

• 30 Ev // Aug 19, 2007 at 7:09 pm

  Hi Eliz, I think you will be pleased with the “Limelight” hydrangea. Mine is only 2 summers old — it is 4 ft high and loaded with flowers, it gets about 5 hrs of sun, the flowers are a very pale lime, mostly white, but still lovely. My sister planted one last summer, hers gets more sun than mine and it is almost 5 ft. high and she says the flowers are very lime-colored. She lives in Illinois and is thrilled with it. Perhaps the soil or amt of light makes a difference in flower color. I’ll be interested to hear how yours turns out. Both hers and mine came through the heavy late-spring freezes without a glitch — that’s my kind of shrub! Ev

• 31 Cathi // Sep 13, 2007 at 9:56 pm

  I have had an Endless Summer in my twin cities yard, zone 4 for 2 summers. No blooms, but the plant looks good. I have asked many nurseries and master garnders about the lack of blooms and they all say “welcome to the club”. so it seems that no one has any blooms on theirs. I will keep it for a while and see if it blooms in the next few years. I did just get a “Quickfire”, which blooms early and red and supposed to be hardy here. We shall see. I saw a “Limelight” and was it beautiful. I will try to find a spot for one next year. By the way, my “Pee Gee” and “Pink Diamond” did not bloom as well this year. It may have been the harsh hot, dry summer we had here. “Annabelle” did just fine.

  I just discovered your website and love it! Thanks for the work and great comments from others.

• 32 Liz Kinley // Sep 15, 2007 at 6:41 pm

  I have 3 Endless Summer blue Hydrangeas - this was the 4th summer for two of them and the 3rd summer for the other. They are planted in a row and get morning sun and partial afternoon shade. I actually wish I would have planted them further apart as they have each grown to be over 3 foot tall by 4 foot wide. My Mom’s, however, have stayed very small over the same amount of time. Hers are only about 1 foot tall by 1 foot wide, and she lives only 5 miles from me. She does have a lot more clay in her soil, though. Mine bloomed like gangbusters every summer from mid-May to about August 1st, and this is the first summer they have not bloomed. I got one single bloom out of one bush, and NO blooms on the other two. It has been such a disappointment when they were so covered with blooms in previous summers. The only thing different this year was that we had a late spring snow/freeze after the new growth was already about 4 inches out of the ground. However, this shouldn’t have mattered if they truly bloom on new growth, but my thought is that it somehow affected the plants, because many of you have mentioned the same thing this year….late spring freeze and no blooms this summer. I live in central Iowa, by the way. When you all say to cover the plants with leaves in the fall, how is this done? I don’t prune them back until spring, so do I just leave the old wood 3 foot tall, and pile leaves halfway up the plants?? Also, off the subject, I saw pictures this summer in Martha Stewart Living that showed mophead hydrangeas with multiple colored blooms coming out of the SAME bush. They blooms were hot pink, blue, yellow, and white. Does anyone know what these are called, where to purchase, or if they will grow in the midwest? The ones pictured were from the Cape Cod area, I believe. I’v never seen anything like that before, and would love to get some! Thanks for all your comments…it has been helpful to me!

• 33 Joan // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:49 am

  My Endless summer is 3 years old and has had very few blooms this year, and not many more last year.
  After lots of research I have discovered the problem. This plant needs a high phosphate fertilizer. I found that Ferti-lome has a 9-59-8 called Bloming and Rooting.
  About the 1st of August I started applying it once a week and now the bushes are loaded with buds. My Endless summer is at least 3 1/2 feet tall and about that wide. I am in zone 5.

  So, next spring I will start the fertlizer early.

  Does anyone know when to stop fertilizing???

  Thanks
  Joan

• 34 Cathi // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:56 pm

  Here in zone 4 the master gardener told me not to fertilize after Aug 1. But I am going to try this fertilizing product next year. Thanks for passing this along.

• 35 Olivia54984 // Dec 16, 2007 at 1:16 pm

  Ted is right on in his thinking about Endless Summer.

  I have been growing a number of them and siting them differently and giving them different things to see which one of “My Crucial 5″ is the one (soil, pH, water, sun, fertilizer) that makes the go or no-go for Endless Summer.

  I have to say Endless Summer at least at the cold end of its range need to be heavily mulched (a chicken wire surround filled with leaves would be best, although piled deep with leaves works), watered daily in the hot weather of summer, and sited in full sun will get your very best results. Anything less and you will be dissapointed.

  Bailey Nurseries themselves is following up with similar advice with 2007 tagging with this info revising their tagging of previous years.

  Follow it…otherwise, do not plant this hydrangea. You will be happier with Pinky Winky, Quickfire, Limelight, or Unique planted in full sun if you do not want to provide the cultural requirement to have blue (or more likely pink) mophead hydrangeas.

• 36 Brad Hurtado // Feb 5, 2008 at 2:03 am

  I live in Asbury Park, New Jersey and planted five ES hydrangea in front of my very sunny south facing porch. They’ve bloomed beautifully each of the three summers I’ve had them with lush blue flowers and tons of deep green foliage. After the first year I cut them back severely to the ground and they bloomed very nicely. The next year I wanted to try out the “old wood” and left about 18 inches of the base of the shrub. There wasn’t much difference in the amount of blooms but the entire shrub grew VERY large. So large that this year I’ve cut it back to the ground again.

  My only problem with them is that I don’t really see the ENDLESS part. When I take off the spent blooms I get a few more blooms but nothing to speak of. The blooms are spectacular in June but in July and August it’s just a big green ball.

  After reading the above comments I’ll make sure to use a high phosphate fertilizer this spring and see how that helps.

  Brad

• 37 Olivia54984 // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:47 pm

  Brad,

  Regarding the “Endless” part…

  What I have seen here in the frozen north of zone 4b is where the buds on the old wood have not frozen off the shrub begins to bloom about the middle of June. Otherwise, if it has to bloom on new wood it doesn’t start until about 6 weeks later. If you deadhead -quickly- it wil continue to send up new blooms.

  So, if you can have it bloom from June through September…that is darn near “Endless”.

• 38 sam garruto // Feb 24, 2008 at 2:40 pm

  after reading some of the horible comments on the hydranega endless summer I am afraid to invest. I had twenty on order . I live in zone 6
  which is N J. Would that be less of a problem or
  or the same problem as zone 5

• 39 Olivia54984 // Feb 24, 2008 at 5:14 pm

  I would thnk in zone 6 ES would be ideal, providing it gets ample water and is mulched.

• 40 Kathy Purdy // Feb 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm

  I would add to what Olivia says that most of the people who are having trouble would normally not be able to grow any macrophylla hydrangea, except that ‘Endless Summer’ is advertised as being able to bloom in colder climates than is typical for macrophyllas. We zone pushers are finding it’s just not true, at least not consistently true.

• 41 Olivia54984 // Feb 25, 2008 at 10:10 am

  Definitely yes, Kathy! For those zone pushers, 5 and colder, siting the ES and nuturing it is a BIG deal. If you can’t give it everything it needs or don’t like fussy plants, ES is probably not for you.

  Bailey Nurseries (the ES breeder) is attaching Winter Care cultural tags to their plants, that’s a clue…

• 42 Kristen // Apr 20, 2008 at 11:29 am

  I planted an Endless Summer in a somewhat shady spot in front of my house last spring. It gets morning sun, a little during the mid-part of the day, and is pretty well sheltered from any harsh winds (planted behind a Winged Euonymus), which can definitely be a problem given my proximity to the ocean. Cold temperatures are also a potential hazard since I live on the south coast of Massachusetts. However, I couldn’t be happier with my ES. It has come back beautifully this spring. Perhaps due where it was planted? I don’t know how finicky they are.

• 43 Wendy // May 7, 2008 at 2:05 pm

  Hi All,
  I just ordered my first Endless Summer Hydrangea and I live in zone 5 but some nurseries say we are really a 4. I am wondering where to find the fertilizer that 9-59-8 from Ferti-lome called Blooming and Rooting that one of you talked about. Is there a mail order place to buy this? Someone is growing one of these in a town 5 miles from me and its doing well but I think it was big when she got it. Mine is coming from a mail order nursery and will most likely be tiny. I appreciate all the comments and advice you all share. Thanks.

• 44 Cathi // May 9, 2008 at 10:27 am

  Wendy, I live in the Twin Cities (zone 4, though some are saying now a zone 5) and had a very hard time finding the fertilome fertilizer. I called all over and finally found it at a small nursery near me so I bought the largest size they sold. There are a few places that sell it on line, but of course shipping might be costly. This is the first time that I have used it and sure hope it works. Good luck.

  Cathi

• 45 kim // May 17, 2008 at 10:21 am

  Thanks for the insight, but mine just came in the mail, Ill let you all know… Does anyone know how much alluminum sulfate to use for a new plant? Kim angola NY

• 46 Katie // May 18, 2008 at 1:37 pm

  Wow! I have 3 ES, these are their 3rd year in the ground, and I love them. I am in zone 6/7, suburban Maryland just north of DC. They do great here, bloom beautifully, in volume, season-long. I do almost nothing to them. I don’t deadhead, I don’t prune. The dried flowers look good on the plants, so I leave them for winter interest. Green shoots sprout over the entire plant in late winter. Right now they have beautiful green foliage, and are literally covered with buds…. looking forward to the third year of good performance in my garden. I use hollytone sparingly (I guess I should do that now?) and mulch with compost. I water them if they start drooping in the heat of summer, but have had no trouble at all with these plants. Mine are planted on the north side of my house, and get a couple hours of morning light. I must just have the right spot for them!

• 47 Lynn // May 18, 2008 at 10:59 pm

  We just visited a local nursery, we live in IL, zone 4? liked the ES. Were told they CANNOT dry out, do not like full sun, and to cut blossoms once they start to fade or die off. adding Alum Sulfate to soil will help with acidity which produces better color and also mushroom compost added to soil helps hold moisture for them to grow best. if this helps. after reading the posts here we’re not so sure we will buy them and deal with our harsh winters at $60 a plant!

• 48 Kitty // May 19, 2008 at 11:10 am

  Mine is now three years old and most of it died when we had below zero weather in march. It had gotten to be a couple of feet tall and had buds that I thought would turn into flowers this summer, but all that died!

• 49 Kathy // May 21, 2008 at 9:45 am

  Hi Kathy, I too desperately wanted the “endless summer”…I got one 2 years ago and decided to pot it instead of ground planting. In the winter of 2007, I placed the pot in my garage. I sat it out in March/April and it came back beautifully! Blooms everywhere by June. This year, I left the pot on my covered patio. It is now Memorial Day weekend and I have about a 2 inch growth in the pot. How disappointing!! I may try the garage again this winter
  Good luck with yours! Oh, by the way, a friend of mine, who loves to garden too, says to sprinkle used coffee grounds around the plant to make the blooms turn blue. It worked for mine last year. Give it a try!

• 50 Wendy // May 22, 2008 at 1:44 pm

  Kim,
  I got Endless Summer from J&P this year. In their directions it said to use a teaspoon of Aluminum Sulfate. Hope it helps.

• 51 Wendy // May 22, 2008 at 1:47 pm

  Hi Kathy,
  Here here on the used coffee grounds. I also use them for blueberries and all the magnolias. Good for acid lovers. Plus it makes you feel good because it non chemical.

• 52 Kathy // May 22, 2008 at 2:21 pm

  Wendy,
  Haven’t tried to use coffee grounds on any other plants. I will give it a try!
  Not to get away from our favorite topice (ES)…anyone have knowledge of verbena? We are in zone 5 and eventhough our nursery says it’s hardy, every year we have to replace it. (gettin kind of old)…any idea how we can save it during the winter months?
  Thanks

• 53 Kathy Purdy // May 22, 2008 at 2:31 pm

  Some verbenas are hardy, some are not. How is your drainage? Verbenas like free draining soil. They might make it through the winter but rot during mud season. Find out the exact genus and species of the verbena you’re trying to grow, and google it. You may find out that not everyone thinks it’s as hardy as your nursery does.

• 54 Kathy // May 22, 2008 at 6:47 pm

  Thank you Kathy! I am going to the nursery tomorrow and will ask them.
  The drainage is great by our retaining wall and is in good soil. I may just have to find something else to put there.

• 55 Evelyn // May 25, 2008 at 11:07 pm

  Has anyone tried growing the new hydrangea
  “Pinky Winky?”

• 56 Liz Kinley // Jun 28, 2008 at 6:49 pm

  This is now the 4th season for my ES blue hydrangeas. I have a row of 3 bushes…each has gotten 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide. Last year we had an early freeze and I had only a couple of blooms the whole summer. This year I protected them with a lot of leaves over the winter, and I am back to having 40+ blooms on EACH bush. The blooms are HUGE, and gorgeous. I live in central Iowa. I would really recommend ES hydrangeas, but tell people they need to keep them very protected in the winter and do NOT cut them back at all until about the 1st of June, as I had a ton of new blossoms on old wood this year…many of them over a foot up the old stems, and would have lost all this had I cut them within a few inches of the ground. Mine are on the south side of the house close to the street, and have a bit of shade from the overhang of our maple trees. They do require a lot of water. When it’s hot, I water almost daily and fertilize with Miracle Grow a few times per season….the one made for acidic plants (NOT bloom booster!).

• 57 Cathi // Jul 6, 2008 at 11:14 am

  Evelyn,

  I planted a Pinky Winky this spring and it looks good, has blooms, but the true test here in zone 4, twin cities, will be next year. Last fall I planted a Quick Fire, which made it through the winter and horrible spring we had, looks great and is loaded with blooms. Hope it is as pretty as the pictures.

  I have been using the ferilome fertilizer that someone here recommended for the ES I have, but it has not made a difference. However the other plants I used it one look fabulous and the roses are loaded with blooms. So I would recommend it for other plants also.

  Cathi

• 58 Kathy // Jul 7, 2008 at 1:30 pm

  Hi everyone,
  Well here we are the second week in July and no blooms on my ES! It’s just awful when you realize that it’s just not going to be what it was last year.
  If you get the chance to read the article in Midwest Living this month…lots of great information on our beloved Hydrangas!

• 59 Ev // Jul 7, 2008 at 5:23 pm

  Cathi, thanks for the comments on the “Pinky Winky” and Quick Fire hydrangeas. I ordered the Pinky Winky varieties for my sisters, one lives in Illinois and one in Ohio and they are thrilled with them (we give each other plants for our birthdays!) I’m going to get one for myself!

  I have three varieties of the oakleaf hydrangeas, two kinds of “pee gees” and several Endless Summer shrubs which I fertilized as per advice above and still have no flowers!! I do believe that there are “micro climates” even in the harsher zones, where this shrub may do well, if it has all the requirements met as far as soil, fertilizer, water, sun, etc., but for the majority of other gardeners I have talked too, it has been an “Endless disappointment!” so that is my experience!! The mophead hydrangeas are well suited to milder climates such as Maryland, and New Jersey, but to be successful in the Midwest with the colder winters/springs, I think you have to be lucky with just the right “micro-climate” to have success with them.
  Kathy, I have had a lot of fun with a blue mophead hydrangea given to me for Mother’s Day about 4 yrs ago. It has been repotted at least twice. It spends the summer outdoors (in the pot) where it gets lots of sun, water and fertilizer. In the fall, after the first frost hits it and wilts the leaves, I bring it into the garage and keep it next to the house — (garage is not heated, but it is protected from the severe cold since it has already set its buds for next year’s flowers.) In the spring, when it begins to break dormancy, I put it on my unheated, enclosed sunporch where it gets lots of sunlight and start watering it. I get lots of gorgeous huge blue flowers every summer, just like the florists do!! You might try that if you want to take the trouble to get a blooming “mop-head.” Ev

• 60 Ev // Jul 7, 2008 at 5:28 pm

  Oh, I wanted to comment that I love your flower photos on your website, Kathy! Also love the awesome mosaic birdbath. Did you make that yourself and if so, do you mind sharing how you made it? I’d love to have one like that!
  Ev

• 61 Kathy Purdy // Jul 7, 2008 at 7:40 pm

  No, Ev, I purchased the bird bath. Details here.

• 62 Bev // Jul 13, 2008 at 6:13 pm

  Hi,
  Liz, that is impressive to have had blooms on old wood this year. Will have to try and put the extra over-winter protection on them this winter. Do you have a certain way of holding down the leaves/mulch through the winter or do you have reliable snow cover usually to keep it in place?
  I have finally had good luck beyond a couple of flowers this summer in Nebraska with Endless Summer variety. Likely a result of unusual increase in rainfall this year. So I guess this is a hint that PLENTY of water is needed for these to flourish. Perhaps the added humidity in the air is key too. Mine have died back to ground each year but have reached 3 feet or tall rapidly this year with a flush of blooms. Didn’t trim off dead branches until June in stubborn hope old wood would leaf out.
  Have now put in soaker hose to ensure ready access to local heavy watering. They are in somewhat of a microclimate in an “L” shaped area on North side of house and partly shady East side of house and they have a bit of protection from the brisk wind common here.
  Have been using fertilizer made for camellias, azaleas and rhododendroms - “acid loving” plants. Soil VERY alkaline here.
  By the way, if anyone has established oak trees in this area that are faltering badly or have been told they need expensive iron injections just start using a hefty dose of acid fertilizer from tree drip line to within a foot of trunk as these are acid loving trees and can only extract iron from soil if pH is acidic. (see package instructions for plant size recommendation and multiply approximately). Have done this twice a year last 2 years and recovery has been truly remarkable. May eventually notice a thinning of grass under these trees as a trade-off due to acid and increased solidity of shade.

• 63 Bev // Jul 13, 2008 at 6:15 pm

  Picture of hydranges on North side of house
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/15924100@N00/2664814987/

• 64 Liz Kinley // Jul 13, 2008 at 11:18 pm

  Bev,
  Your ES hydrangeas are beautiful!! Thanks for posting the pictures. I took some pics of mine today with a disposable camera…hopefully they will turn out, and I will post them after getting them developed and figuring out how to download them (will let my husband do that part!) I think mine are a similar size to yours…a little over 3 feet tall and blooming like gangbusters. Last winter was the first year I tried protecting them, and it must have made a difference…based on how they look this summer. I did it in the fall after the first freeze, when they leaves were well shriveled. It made it easier to guide the pile of leaves down between the stems. I piled them about halfway up the stems, and because the stems are fairly close together, they stayed wedged in there and didn’t blow away. Also, after the first snowfall, the wetness really held them down, and after that we have a pretty reliable snow cover. I did, however, actually save a sack of leaves in the garage to add more if needed during the winter, but I didn’t need to. I waited until the 1st of May to uncover them, and sure enough, new growth was already a couple inches tall. Then we had a freeze warning about May 10th (late for Iowa!) and I ended up dumping mulch on top for a few days to protect the new growth, because last year the new growth froze, and I had only TWO flowers the entire summer!! So I worked hard this year at keeping them protected, and it paid off. This is only the 2nd season I have had new leaf buds on old wood. The first 2 seasons I had none…so maybe it tends to happen after they become more mature and established?? I noticed almost all the buds on old wood seem to happen around the outer stems…not in the center of the plant, which is kind of interesting. I did get new buds over a foot up the old stems, so I definitely don’t recommend cutting the stems back too early…like you said, Bev, not before June 1st or so. And my hydrangeas also die back to the ground each year, but they get tall again very quickly in late spring. I’m so glad you’ve had such good luck this year, Bev! It’s fun to see the pics of how well yours are doing!! Thanks for sharing!

• 65 Endless Summer hydrangea blooming well this year // Jul 19, 2008 at 10:55 pm

  [...] ‘Endless Summer’ Hydrangea: Does it live up to the hype? [...]

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